Heater suspected in Pa. fire that killed 5

Associated Press

HARRISBURG

Investigators looking into a central Pennsylvania row home fire that killed four young children and a woman have zeroed in on a first-floor space heater, a dead battery in a smoke detector and nailed-shut windows, officials said Tuesday.

Dauphin County Coroner Graham Hetrick said all five died of smoke inhalation, thermal burns or a combination of the two in the Monday night blaze that destroyed their home.

He identified the victims as Cornelia Brooks, 49; Kelli Franklin, 4; Tysheen Terry, 4; Deandre Terry, 3; and Derionn Terry, 2. Brooks was Kelli’s grandmother and a great-aunt to the other three, said her husband, Ralph Brooks. They were separated after 15 years of marriage but remained best friends.

A family member owned the home, Ralph Brooks said. It had at least one smoke detector, but its battery had died, Harrisburg fire officials said. The fire occured about a block from the Pennsylvania Farm Show complex in a poor section of Harrisburg, the state capital of about 47,000 people.

Local teens tried to get into the home from the back to rescue the occupants before firefighters arrived, but the blaze was too intense, said Janie Porter, who lives at the end of the block of five connected row homes.

Harrisburg Mayor Linda Thompson said she would convene a task force to examine ways to improve compliance with the city’s smoke-detector ordinance. She said second-floor windows had been nailed shut, but it was not known if that prevented escape.

The electric space heater was considered “a direct link to the fire,” she said.